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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Generational Armageddon: Teenagers are the End of the World

In the news, in the break-room, wherever adults gather to trade information; sooner or later the subject of the young ones coming into adulthood will come up. It will come up, and it is the end of the world as we know it. They have no respect, they don't know how good they have it, they don't understand what they are doing, and they are destroying their lives before they've even begun.
In cafeterias, coffee shops, fast food places, and wherever else the young have claimed as theirs for the moment to sit and discuss the world; sooner or later the subject of what a sorry state it is in will come up. The need for change of how the world is run will be discussed; the end of the world as we know it so that a new world can be born.
In some symbolic traditions Death has a very interesting meaning. That symbolic meaning is change that requires one thing to end for another to begin. In these symbolic systems, Death is one of the few symbols that can always be seen as positive. In these symbolic systems, this type of change is also the one that is met with the most fear and anxiety.
In the Bible, there is one book that is hardest to interpret, fascinating for many, but most frightening in it's imagery to most. This is the book of Revelation. It is filled with destruction, death, and change. It also has the triumphant return of Christ in all of his glory and the promised Kingdom of God on earth.
Every generation looks at the way that the next generation is changing everything they have built and can see the world as they know it ending. Every generation looks at a world they are born into, and envisions a new world they can build. Every generation sees the symbols of Revelation and interprets them in their times to see that the world is ending. Maybe one generation some day, the youth will truly end the world for good. Maybe some day the symbols of Revelation will play out for the final time and there will be no further improvement for the next generation.
For now, every generation tears down some of what has been built before and builds up something new. We work to tear out the darkness in the world and build the City of God on earth. Sometimes we come closer than others. Every generation has change though, every generation tries with greater or lesser success to learn from those before them, every generation has taxes, and every generation dies. Every generation has their Revelation, and for them the world ends as they know it so that they may enter the Kingdom of God.

3 comments:

During my conservative phase in high school I read Mind Siege by the author of the Left Behind series. He was quite good at sowing panic about atheists and secular humanists taking over the world and how the more ground they gained the closer we came to the end times.

I could never quite get why that was a bad thing. From what I understood, the end would not come until everyone had a chance to accept Jesus. And...

Every generation and life has a Beast, a lady in scarlet, four horsemen, and all of the other symbols if you look close enough. This is not to say there will not be a true end times; for all things must end. Just lake all of the little deaths the world goes through, that will still just be a change that requires something to go away so that something else may come to be.

Most who fear the end fear it for one of two reasons:1. Change is scary, and revelation talks about REALLY scary change2. Not everyone is sure they are on God's side, or that God is on their's. There are so many mixed messages in many churches today between God being love and God spewing fiery judgement that it can be hard for some to believe both. Revelation tends to put most in the mood to just remember the latter.